No one likes pain. We pull away from it; we do what we can to avoid it. Just as the body can experience pain, so can the mind. Thinking about painful things can cause confusion, mental anguish, anxiety, and headaches. Because the brain doesn't like pain any more than the body, it tends to automatically push these distressing thoughts out of the awareness of the conscious mind and into the subconscious. This process is called repression. Once the painful thought is buried in some remote part of the mind, mental distress is reduced. We all use repression; it would be impossible to live without it!
The problem with repression is that these painful thoughts don't stay pushed down in those remote areas of consciousness; they keep wanting to bubble up to the surface! No one can deny perfectly. Good deeds or compensatory religious acts don't actually make the unfair fair, or the unkind kind. Even when we rationalize, we are somewhat aware of the faultiness in our thinking; and of course, telling off our spouse never does solve the problem with that mean boss!
Though repression is essential for the short run, a more complete processing of feelings is necessary for the long run. The Bible recommends thoughtful introspection into these feelings and thoughts. "The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit" (Proverbs 14:8). After all, you cannot really fool yourself anyway, or those anxious thoughts would never come "bubbling" into your mind. The way to cope for the long run is to process these painful thoughts by using openness, forgiveness, caring friends, trust in God, and the Christian graces (Galatians 5:22). Take time to defuse the emotional bombs buried deep in the dark caves of your heart!